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With St Patrick's Day coming up I have been planning my menu and the main course almost always has to be corned beef; it's just so easy to make, it's always tasty and there there are so many different ways to make it! A slow cooker or crock-pot makes cooking corned beef a sinch, you simply put the corned beef into the slow cooker in the morning and then at night you pull it out and it's ready to go. Of course you can change things up by changing what else goes into the slow cooker with the corned beef like the liquid that it is cooked in. Sure you could just use water, but why not add some flavour by using another liquid? This year I was dead set to combine another St Pat's Day favourite, Guinness, an Irish stout, with my corned beef and the first step was to cook the corned beef in Guinness in the slow cooker to infuse it with it's flavour throughout the day long slow cooking. I certainly couldn't let all of that Guinness go to waste after the corned beef was done cooking in it, I mean not only was it Guinness but now there was also all of those tasty corned beef juices mixed in! The solution was easy and while I let the corned beef rest before slicing into it I turned the Guinness and corned beef juices into a tasty glaze by adding some brown sugar, grainy mustard and Worcestershire sauce and then simmering to reduce and thicken it into a glaze. Once the glaze was ready, finishing the corned beef is as easy as removing the layer of fat, glazing and then baking until the glaze is a bubbling and caramelizing and good! With this Guinness glazed slow cooker corned beef, this years St Patrick's Day is going to be one of the tastiest yet!

Feel free to throw your veggies into the slow cooker to cook with the corned beef but if you would prefer that they not taste like Guinness you can make them separately, which is the way I went.

Guinness Glazed Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Corned beef slow cooked in Guinness and served in a tasty Guinness glaze.

ingredients

1 4 pound corned beef in pickling liquid and spices

1 bottle/can (12+ ounces) Guinness or other Irish stout

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

directions

Place the corned beef along with the pickling spices, onion and garlic in a slow cooker/crock-pot with the fat layer on top, pour in the Guinness and cook on low until fork tender, about 8-10 hours.

Set the corned beef aside, strain the solids from the Guinness and juices, place the liquid into a large sauce pan, add the brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, bring to a boil reduce the heat and simmer to reduce by half, about 10 minutes.

Cut the fat layer from the corned beef, glaze with the Guinness glaze and bake in a preheated 400F oven until the glaze starts bubbling, about 10-15 minutes.

St. Paddy's dinner is already planned and have two corned beefs in the frig, but will be baking them like I did last year, as that's what everyone has requested. They all raved last year, but will have to get another one while they are still on sale, to try this one. Hubby loves Reubens and we didn't have any leftovers last year.

I posted a comment yesterday morning but it never appeared; it said it was waiting for moderation. All I had wanted to post was that I never have beer in my home but I do have wine and could that be used instead or was I better off just going with water?

Anonymous: Around here corned beef usually comes in a vacuum sealed bag with pickling liquid and spices which is why I said pickling liquid in the recipe. I have seen it come with a small packet of dry pickling spices and if that is the way yours comes, add the pickling spices.

Anonymous: Guinness draught is a stout but it has a slightly different recipe than the bottles that are labeled Guinness Extra Stout. You can use whichever one you prefer in this recipe or any other stout beer for that matter. Enjoy!

I tried to post a question but I didn't see it show up. I have never cooked corned beef before and I just wanted to know if it needs to be covered in liquid while it cooks and if so, do I add water or just more beer?

Anonymous: No; The Guinness adds a flavour but it is not over powering. You can control the amount of flavour that it adds by the amount of the Guinness glaze that you use so if you are worried, you can glaze lightly and serve the corned beef with the remainder for individuals to add more as they please.

Made this tonight and the corned beef was fantastic! The glaze came out super salty though - do you think it was something I did or maybe just the corned beef that I used? The recipe is definitely a keeper though! Yum!

Perfect recipe for a busy Sunday. Doubled everything since we love leftovers. This was off the charts easy, tender and yummy. I loved the glaze, but it wasn't as thick as the one in your pictures even though I really reduced it. I served itas au juice on the side and it was very good, but did you do something else to thicken it?

I'm trying this today because I stocked up on Corned Beef while they were only about $4 each at my local Wal-mart. Normally they are like $15, and we LOVE Corned Beef. Normally we just boil it with it's spices and add potatoes and cabbage. Hoping this way tastes good, or better so we can have something a little different for St. Paddy's Day next year!

Anonymous: You don't need to turn it over and it does not need to be covered in the Guinness. There will be enough heat in the slow cooker that it will be cooked through after the 8+ hours even without being covered in liquid.

Every year I make CB&C for St. Pat's and every year my husband tells me it isn't very good. In late November of 2013, I made this recipe and the hubby couldn't get enough! He said no only was it the best corned beef I've ever made, he said it thought it was the best he'd ever had - including that made by his Irish best friend. Thanks, Kevin, you saved St. Patrick's Day, it will be this recipe from now on.

In the recipe, you state Guinness Stout. However, your photo shows Guinness Draught. I believe the flavor would be quite different as the stout is much more bitter than the draught. Which one did you use?

I'm a little confused so please forgive me, the corned beef I bought came in a vacuum sealed bag with liquid and spices...do I add the entire contents to the slow cooker or just the beef? There wasn't a seperate package of spices as they were integrated into the liquid so not sure what to do.

Kevin, after 30+ years of marriage, my wife and I made corned beef with Guinness according to your recipe on St. Patrick's Day. It was absolutely wonderful! And the Reuben's a couple of days later? The best ever.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.